Certain patients have difficulty maintaining an upright posture. Particularly, camptocormia, a syndrome which is increasingly associated with Parkinson's Disease, causes patients to exhibit a severe, bent over posture when walking, standing or sitting. Camptocormia patients exhibit a characteristic forward and lateral lean when both standing and sitting. There is currently no recognized medical treatment or orthopedic device to mitigate this degenerative condition, permitting movement only in the saggital plane, while restricting movement in the coronal and axial planes.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,803,127, to Giesen, describes a device that is adjustable to accommodate different body sizes, the device shown in this reference provides insufficient support for handicapped people like those with camptocormia. Giesen's device intentionally permits movement in all three orthotic planes and specifically provides for lateral torso and thigh movements which are antithetical to supporting camptocormia patients, who have a tendency to fall without lateral support.
This invention relates to improvements to the apparatus described above and to solutions to some of the problems raised or not solved thereby.